Musings and Snippets from a recently retired JP. I served for 31 years, mostly in west London. I was Chairman of my Bench for some years, and a member of the National Bench Chairmen's Forum All cases are based on real ones, but anonymised and composited. All opinions are those of one or more individuals. JPs swear to enforce the law of the land, whether or not they approve of it. Nothing on here constitutes legal advice.

Monday, June 07, 2010

Disappointed, Or What?

I took a call last Friday, late in the afternoon, to ask if I would step in to sit today. As befits my eminence and seniority (ahem!) I was asked to take the Remand Court.The list was a pretty standard Monday one, with nothing much to catch my eye other than a brothel-keeping charge.Wow! In two decades on the bench I have never so much as seen the kind of person known to the Met as a 'tom'. What would she look like? Would she be a matronly Cynthia Payne type, or an Eastern European glamourpuss? What services were on offer? At eleven o'clock my bubble burst. For technical reasons we had to swap a couple of benches around, so I went off to another courtroom, while a colleague took over my chair. So I still haven't dealt with a sex worker, working girl, or whatever you want to call her. Oh well, another day perhaps.

What The Papers Said

40 Bloggers That Really Count (Times)There are 30,000 or so unpaid magistrates across England and Wales. For five years, one of them has anonymously detailed the cut and thrust of the job, providing a grimly funny insight into Britain’s sinful underbelly with the same feel and tone as a Hogarth or Dickens.